A pathetic little fire burned dully in the middle of the small clearing currently inhabited by four lost, frozen to the bone teens. Sensible Keesha was prodding the little fire with a stick, trying to get it to start burning the large log amongst the kindling. Tim was wandering around the edges of the clearing, collecting as many sticks as he could; they needed enough to last the night.
Ralphie, instead of poking at the wood to get the fire going, had simply stuck his stick in and was watching it burn with a mild fascination. Wanda, who's head was currently leaning on Ralphie's shoulder, was staring at it as well, as though transfixed. Keesha had no idea why Wanda was getting far too close for comfort next to Ralphie all of a sudden. It was bothering her immensely though. Why should she have to sit all alone on the other side of this little - candle flame really - when Ralphie was letting Wanda snuggle into his thick, warm looking jacket?!
Keesha looked over at Tim, who was hunched over on the other side of the clearing, picking up a few more twigs. He would probably push her back nervously if she tried the same thing. He had flinched when Dorothy Ann had just laid a hand on his shoulder last week. Keesha shook her head. It was almost like the word platonic, didn't even exist in his vocabulary.
Keesha chose to look at the flames instead of the cuddling pair and hugged her arms. Still not looking up, she said to the fire, "Do you have anything in the way of food?"
"No," Ralphie said glumly, rotating his stick around in the fire in the same manner one would if they were slowly roasting a hot dog. Keesha's stomach grumbled; don't think about food, she had to remind herself.
"I still have an apple," Tim said, dropping the pile of wood next to Keesha and sitting down in front of it. "And a fruit bar or something. Wanda can you have me my pack. It's on your left side, right there..." Keesha saw him look curiously at how close Wanda and Ralphie were seated next to each other. The sight seemed to make him look a bit depressed.
Wanda turned to her left, tearing her gaze away from the fire. She lifted herself off of Ralphie's shoulder and took a hold of one of the backpacks straps beside her.
"This one?" she asked, lifting it up slightly off the ground.
"Yeah," Tim nodded and reached over the campfire. Since it was burning so softly, there wasn't much risk of his thick sweater catching on fire. Wanda tossed the pack over and Tim caught it in his arms. He then unzipped one pocket open and pulled out the food he had just mentioned and then some.
"So there's the apple, the fruit bar - two fruit bars! And orange.. A grapefruit... Banana..."
Keesha saw Ralphie stick out his tongue. "Do you have anything that isn't fruit?"
"Well, we're on a hike, Ralphie," Tim said. "It's fruit that's going to keep you going out here."
"Brrr," Wanda shivered. "Fruit and a warm fire!" And Keesha saw, with a jolt, Wanda bury herself back into Ralphie's side. She suddenly noted that Ralphie looked just as confused about this as her and Tim did, but also a bit pleased. This time, he put his arm around her. Keesha turned to Tim, who seemed to be wondering the same thing as her.
Tim then looked at her, and the two exchanged shrugs.
"Wanda's right you guys, put some more wood on," Ralphie said. "And - um," he paused and reached into his jacket pocket with the arm that wasn't around Wanda before he extracted a pack of matches. "We can try throwing a few more of these on."
Keesha nodded and took a match from Ralphie.
"Hey," Tim said after two more matches had been lit and dropped on the fire. "What exactly is our plan tonight. I mean, are we actually going to sleep here."
"Do you have a better idea?" Keesha asked. Though her tone was sarcastic, she wished he did; she certainly didn't and didn't expect any brilliant ones coming from Wanda or Ralphie either. She sighed. "I just hope the others are in a better situation than this..."
"Or if they're still alive," Ralphie put in. Wanda smacked him on the chest; Keesha would have done the same thing herself if it had been her in his arms.
But she wasn't, so she just cried, "Ralphie!" In the disgusted tone he was most used to hearing from her.
Beside her, Tim poked the burning wood. "I wonder where they are.."
xxx
"I wonder where we are..." Phoebe mused quietly, taking in her dark surroundings carefully.
"Lost," said Arnold bluntly. "Lost and dead."
It had taken the two of them quite a while to gain enough courage to slide back out from under the rock, even after they had been absolutely sure that the bear and her cub had left. As a consequence, it was already dark by the time they had finally made it out.
Phoebe and Arnold had then walked for maybe about a mile after that, stumbling blindly over small rocks and pebbles and smashing into hanging branches, before stumbling upon their first little stroke of luck. Phoebe had been the first to push her way through a thick knot of trees and into a clearing and excitedly shouted, 'It's the cabin!' before realizing it wasn't the one they were looking for. She had looked at Arnold guiltily after that, quickly apologizing for raising his hopes.
The cabin they were in was very small and very chilly, but it was better than nothing. Some other hikers had left an oil lamp in the empty sink on one side of the cabin and now Arnold and Phoebe were sitting around it on the wooden floor, trying to warm their frozen fingers.
Though there were a few supplies left here and there in the cabin, there wasn't any sign that there had been hikers through recently. Actually, all evidence pointed to the contrary, seeing as how there was one bag, hung up by the ceiling on a string, that contained unrecognizable, rotting fruit. Arnold's growling stomach had stopped complaining when he had laid eyes on that.
He shivered in his thick wooly jacket, and pulled his fingers back inside the sleeves. It was freezing in here. He could see his own breath it was so cold. He didn't complain though, and wondered if skinny little Phoebe was alright with her own, rather thin looking, jacket.
She wasn't saying anything though, if the cold was actually bothering her. Just looking calmly at the little light the oil lamp gave off. The light was shining on her the way a flashlight would if someone was holding it up to their face to try and look scary. Her peaceful, mellow face seemed even more inviting than the little flame though, so he chose to look at her instead in the silence.
"Arnold," Phoebe finally said quickly after a long, pregnant pause.
"Yeah?" Arnold said, quickly looking back down at the oil lamp.
"Do you think the others managed to make it to the bed and breakfast?"
"Probably," Arnold said glumly. "I always end up being with the unlucky group..."
Phoebe didn't reply immediately, she looked slightly hurt. Arnold's stomach clenched, something he had said wasn't good. She finally said, "So I'm unlucky then. You'd rather have gone with Wanda or something, right?"
Arnold shook his head hurriedly. Girls always took things too personally. Especially Phoebe. Well - actually that was kind of their fault - Phoebe was usually at the receiving end of their friendly teasing. "No, no I didn't mean - no, Phoebe, I'm not blaming you!"
"Okay." She still looked rather unconvinced and - glum...
"I'm not, really!" Arnold ran a hand hard through his orange hair. "I guess I'm the unlucky one..."
"How can anyone who had been on one of Ms. Frizzle's field trips even think of considering themselves unlucky..." Phoebe said, but she was smiling.
"Right..." Arnold said sheepishly, feeling calmer when he saw her lips twitch upwards. "Sorry, I'm just a little - "
"Unhappy, right," Phoebe answered quickly for him. She sighed and looked gloomily down at the oil lamp. "I know... I am too..."
"I didn't mean for you to be stuck with unlucky me, you know," Arnold said, rubbing his hands together fiercely in an attempt to warm them. "Sorry."
"Oh, no no!" Phoebe said hurriedly. "Don't be. I'm - I'm actually very glad I ended up with you. Instead of.. Say Wanda or Tim..."
Arnold couldn't help smile. "Thanks. I'm happy I'm stuck here with you too."
And then he saw Phoebe turn pink, which made his stomach contract, which lead to the excruciatingly long silence between them for what seemed like ages after.
xxx
Okay, she overreacted. Dorothy Ann Parker overreacted to something stupid and small that Carlos Ramone did and, as a consequence, ended up looking like a mad idiot. So what else was new?!
Dorothy Ann shook her head disgustedly and collapsed on a log a mere twenty meters from the mouth of the cave. She dropped the various sticks and twigs she had been carrying and buried her face in her hands. It was so stupid! She was always acting like a complete idiot around - around that complete idiot!
And, of course, she had to overreact when he was the only other person for God knows how many miles so that when she did decide to overreact she'd have no choice but to admit it and go back to him. There were better times to pick fights. Somehow the fact that she was on a freezing cold mountain, in the dark, with him as her only companion, seemed to have slipped her mind when she let herself get frustrated with him.
Dorothy Ann raised her head out of her hands and looked towards the orange glow of flame in the mouth of the cave. The stalactite looking teeth appeared to be bearing down menacingly on Carlos.
Typical, she had been gone for probably twenty minutes, and he didn't come to make sure she hadn't been eaten by a bear or something. He had probably forgotten she had even come with him, so self absorbed...
What had she overreacted to anyway? Because he wouldn't answer a stupid question that he was perfectly entitled to keeping to himself?! Maybe she just thought that maybe it had been her that said it. Could she have said the worst thing he had ever had told to him?! DA thought hard for a moment, trying to remember...
Nothing extremely nasty was coming to her. Sure they had had their fights, but Dorothy Ann's insults were nothing like Wanda's. Maybe it had been Wanda...? Well then why wouldn't he have told her? If it had been Wanda? And anyways, insults usually bounced of Carlos' back. Nothing any of them could have said could have bothered him that much. Could it?
Why couldn't he tell her?! They told each other everything - or, so she thought. They had been such close friends for years. What was that worth when they couldn't even tell each other stuff like this. Well... she at least told him everything... okay, maybe not everything...
Dorothy Ann jumped up from her seat, and readjusted the oversized jacket that had slipped off her shoulders. He was going to tell her. She needed to find out. Had to, if she didn't want to drive herself insane thinking about it, and so Dorothy Ann stormed over to the entrance of the cave, hands made into fists, wondering why she couldn't have just asked Carlos if he'd rather lose and arm or a leg.
xxx
Carlos jumped when he saw her approaching and almost dropped the cell phone he had been holding loosely in one hand into the fire. He quickly pocketed it and rose to his full height. Dorothy Ann wished he'd have just stayed, sitting, on the ground. She didn't feel nearly as intimidating when he stood up, due to the fact she was almost a full head shorter than he was.
"Who told you the worst thing you've ever heard!" she asked like she wasn't going to take anything but the truth as an answer. "Just tell me who. Was it me?!"
"W-what?" Carlos looked very taken aback by the question. He backed up from her slightly. "N - no. DA - "
"Who then?! And why can't you tell me? I thought we could tell each other anything!" Dorothy Ann demanded, her hands on her hips. "Do you not trust me?!"
"What, so you'd tell me anything there is to know about yourself?" Carlos demanded right back.
Dorothy Ann stopped. This could lose her the argument; that wouldn't stand. "Maybe I would! I at least answered all the questions you gave me!"
"What's your favorite colour?!" Carlos said loudly. "Oh yeah, real personal DA..."
"Fine!" Dorothy Ann said through gritted teeth. "You want to know why my favorite colour's violet do you?! It's because I always associate it to one of the few times you actually compromised with me! Purple verses violet, remember!?!" Oops... Dorothy Ann bit her lip, she hadn't meant for it to come out like that. Or even at all... She swallowed.
Carlos stared at her open mouthed for a second, looking quite surprised. Then he suddenly smirked. "How come your favorite colour isn't purple then?"
"Carlos!" Dorothy Ann groaned, but she suddenly wasn't feeling as angry anymore. She even reached out with one hand and pushed Carlos back a bit, almost teasingly.
"It was Tim," Carlos said, still smiling. "Tim said the worst thing that I ever heard."
Dorothy Ann knitted her eyebrows. She was quite confused. "Tim? Tim?! What - what could he have possibly - "
"Nothing - " said Carlos quickly. He was beginning to look uncomfortable again, but DA didn't care this time. So it hadn't been her after all. But - well that wasn't fair, she'd answered his colour question in full, and it was considerably more personal to her than it sounded. "But -um - " Carlos continued. "Your eyes.."
"My eyes?" Dorothy Ann asked, very puzzled. Her eyes? What was he - "What about them?"
"Nothing..." Carlos shrugged, his hands stuffed in his pants pockets, his eyes looking determinedly down at his shoes. "They're - um - they're blue."
Hehe, I was listening to Hercules song 'I won't say I'm in Love,' when I wrote the last C/DA bit. It inspires me when it comes to this couple :p
More C/DA coming up - they're too fun to write.
Review:)